What could be possible if you resolve? and the genius question from my 5 year old.

Resolve – To come to a definite or earnest decision about; determination to follow a purpose or intent.

Tamara was inspired by the poem, Song of the Open Road written by Walt Whitman, on a visit to Bear Mountain.

With regard to resolve, I particularly like this passage:The earth never tires,
The earth is rude, silent, incomprehensible at first, Nature is rude and incomprehensible at first,
Be not discouraged, keep on, there are divine things well envelop’d,
I swear to you there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell.

and also the end:Camerado, I give you my hand!
I give you my love more precious than money,
I give you myself before preaching or law;
Will you give me yourself? will you come travel with me?
Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?

Yes, Walt had it right when he asks, “Will you give me yourself? and “Shall we stick by each other as long as we live?” because RESOLVE all boils down to a choice. We get to say. Yes or No. Now or Later. The actions we take follow our resolutions.

When resolve week comes calling here at Bliss Habits I feel a shrinking enthusiasm. Love and Wonder evoke easy joy as habits but Resolve sounds serious and not so much fun but I am here to tell you this is not how it has to be!

January offers a peek into a child’s resolve:

3 Feet and Rising or So it begins…. by January Handl

She peered past her curtain of horizontal hair Sparks flying from the deepest of browns where her vision meets the world’s resistance. Arms pretzeled across her chest, heels dug down in the earth of her determination, her tiny mouth creases in a cement of resolute anticipation. Certainty exudes from her posture of readiness “ I will too!” Her words are bitten off at the ends so she doesn’t need volume to project the size of her purpose.

At two and half years old, I smile to know that her strength can only grow as she does- keenest of spirit knives to slice through obstacles where her will can guide the boundaries past what was thought to be possible. Admiration and long breaths help me to keep in mind the responsibility at my end to be delicate with my own power in balance in connection in service in love

Yes! That is what RESOLVE can be, the thing that helps guide us through obstacles… past what was thought possible.

Just yesterday my five year old asked me a question that stopped me in my tracks, “Mommy do you skip any more?”

What a great question. My first thought and sad answer was “Not much!” and then I began to think about why. Skipping is fun but not something grown ups generally do. Pretty silly really and then the power of resolve came to me.

I could resolve to skip more. Nothing big and fancy. Just a bit more fun. So I asked her if she could remind me to skip with her more and she suggested we have a skipping party at the park today. She surmised that not everyone would like to do it but when they see us having so much fun they will “probably want to do it too!” So there it is, my tiny resolution has morphed into a party.

I want to be the kind of person who skips more. Resolve is my ticket!

So how about you, do you skip any more?

What other big or small resolutions can you make? What could be possible if you resolve?

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Tamara and January are here each Monday to help set the mood for the week!

Tamara Magnitsky

Tamara Magnitsky, a child of the wild blue yonder,
has been an ardent student and advocate for poetry, photography and excellence in general.
She is the mother of a 6 year old daughter and a beloved wife.
She can be found most days.

Bio written by Cary Brosius ~Tamara’s husband 🙂

January Handl

January Handl is first and always a mother, has been a preschool teacher and parent educator for 25 years. She is currently the Director/head teacher at Gazebo Park School, and lives at Esalen Institute in Big Sur. She lives simply in awe of existence.

4 thoughts on “What could be possible if you resolve? and the genius question from my 5 year old.”

Hi Kathy,
That’s so sweet – do you skip anymore!?! Being around a young child is so magical! I gravitate towards my great nephew (as I wait for my own grandchildren, I borrow my sister’s) as it is so light and happy around him.
What will I resolve? I will resolve to laugh more. That will remind me I have much to be happy about.
Thanks!
Lori

Resolving to laugh more is a great one! I attended a parenting lecture a few weeks ago and the speaker said the average 5 year old laughs 400 times a day yet the average grown-up does so only 4 times!! That is a statistic worth changing!!